Tài liệu A study on subordinators in english and vietnamese

i DECLARATION I, Lê Thị Thu Hiền, state that this graduation paper is the result of my own study. The whole content in the study has not been submitted from any other studies. Lê Thị Thu Hiền Jan, 2013 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Đặng Nguyên Giang, M.A for his valuable guidance, helpful advice, suggestions and encouragement in the process of writing my graduation paper. I am thankful to all of my teachers in the Foreign Language Department for their kindness and assistance during the process of the study. My sincere thanks also go to my friends who have given me useful advice and ideas. I greatly appreciate the support and encouragement from my family. iii ABSTRACT In this study, I used of the English as the source language and the Vietnamese language as the target one. The process can be divided into two stages: First, materials containing relevant information for the study such as grammar book, previous studies, information on the internet…in both languages will be collected, and the main characteristics of subordinators in English and Vietnamese are described. Then, techniques of analysis and statistics are applied to find out the positions, grammatical features and semantic implication of subordinators in both languages. Then, basing on the results from the stage 1, comparison and contrastive analysis are applied to find out the similarities and the differences between English and Vietnamese in terms of subordinators. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ....................................................................................................................... i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT………………………………………………….….……………………………iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................ iv PART A: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 1. Rationale ................................................................................................................................ 1 2. Aims and Objectives of the Study ....................................................................................... 2 3. Research Questions............................................................................................................... 2 4. Scope of the Study................................................................................................................. 2 5. Methodology .......................................................................................................................... 3 6. Materials Used ...................................................................................................................... 3 7. Design of the Study ............................................................................................................... 3 PART B: DEVELOPMENT .................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................... 5 1. Theoretical Background....................................................................................................... 5 1.1. What is Meant by “Subordination”? ......................................................................... 5 1.2. What is Meant by “Subordinator”?........................................................................... 6 1.3. Subordinators in the Relationship with Other Connectors ..................................... 8 1.3.1. Subordinators Versus Coordinators ................................................................. 8 1.3.2. Subordinators Versus Conjunctive Adverbs ................................................... 9 2. Review of Previous Works ................................................................................................. 11 3. Summary ............................................................................................................................. 13 CHAPTER 2: SUBORDINATORS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE ........................ 14 1. Subordinators in English ................................................................................................... 14 1.1. Simple Subordinators ................................................................................................ 14 v 1.1.1 . Subordinators of Time clause ......................................................................... 14 1.1.2. Subordinators of Cause and Effect ................................................................. 16 1.1.3. Subordinators of Concession ........................................................................... 17 1.1.4. Subordinators of Condition ............................................................................. 19 1.2. Compound Subordinators ........................................................................................ 21 1.2.1. Compound Subordinators Ending with that .................................................. 21 1.2.2. Compound Subordinators Ending with Optional that .................................. 23 1.2.3. Compound Subordinators Ending with as ..................................................... 25 1.3. Correlative Subordinators ........................................................................................ 27 2. Subordinators in Vietnamese ............................................................................................ 29 2.1. Subordinators of Concession .................................................................................... 29 2.2. Subordinators of Reason ........................................................................................... 31 2.3. Subordinators of Purpose ......................................................................................... 33 2.4. Subordinators of Condition ...................................................................................... 34 3. Summary ............................................................................................................................. 35 CHAPTER 3: SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE IN TERMS OF SUBORDINATORS ........................................................ 36 1. Features of Subordinators Found in Both languages ...................................................... 36 1.1. Positions of Simple Subordinators in Sentences ..................................................... 36 1.2. Semantic Implication of Subordination by Subordinators .................................... 37 2. Features of Subordinators Unique to English .................................................................. 39 3. Features of Subordinators Unique to Vietnamese ........................................................... 39 3.1. Subject Ellipsis ........................................................................................................... 40 3.2. Forming Simple Subordinators into Correlative Subordinators .......................... 40 4. Summary ............................................................................................................................. 40 PART C: CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................... 41 1. Recapitulation ..................................................................................................................... 41 vi 2. Conclusions.......................................................................................................................... 41 3. Implementations for language teaching and learning ..................................................... 42 4. Suggestions for further studies .......................................................................................... 43 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................... 44 1 PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale It cannot be denied that the role of English in our lives has got much importance. It is used as the most common language for all parts of the world nowadays. Moreover, it is a means to link all cultures and bring a huge treasure of knowledge to human being, especially in science and technology. Awaring of the role of English in modern world, English has been taught for every educational level. In the recent years, the quality of teaching and learning has been improved a lot by some educational reform policies of Ministry of Education and Training. It is believed that the purpose of learning foreign language is to communicate successfully with foreigners. However, it seems difficult for people to be successful in communicating in any foreign languages if they do not understand clearly and exactly its grammar. In other words, understanding the grammar is the base of the success in using foreign language. However, English appears much different from Vietnamese in variety of aspects. This causes many difficulties for Vietnamese learners and teachers in teaching and learning this language. Subordinators are regarded as a kind of connectors that are used to connect different parts in sentences. Subordinators play a very important role in building successful sentences in particular and in writing English in general. However, it can be said that Vietnamese learners have many troubles in writing and translating English, especially using subordinators in sentences. To my best of my knowledge, this problem has not been found in any works on subordinators before. This is the reason why the author decides to make a minor study on this topic with the hope that this would give a small part to help teachers and learners to get the best result in teaching and learning English subordinators. 2 2. Aims and Objectives of the Study The study, as entitled, focus on subordinators in English and Vietnamese; therefore, the main aim of this study is to work out the similarities and the differences between English and Vietnamese in terms of subordinators. In order to achieve the aims, the study is expected to reach the following objectives: - to study how subordinators are organized structurally and semantically in English and Vietnamese; - to establish the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese in terms of subordinators. 3. Research Questions The objectives of the study can be elaborated into the following research questions: - How are English and Vietnamese subordinators organized structurally and semantically? - What are the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese in terms of subordinators? 4. Scope of the Study This study does focus on the subordinator (used to connect clauses in sentences) in English and Vietnamese. Due to the scope of the graduation paper as well as the limited knowledge of the author, we would like to pay attention to the following aspects: - Positions in sentences - Grammatical features - Semantic implication of subordination by subordinators. 3 5. Methodology Due to the main aims and objectives of the study, describing, analyzing, contrasting, and comparing would be mainly carried our throughout the process. Also, the study makes use of English as the source language and the Vietnamese language as the target one. The process can be divided into four stages. Stage 1: A theoretical framework suggested by Quirk and Greenbaum (1973) is applied in the present study. Stage 2: Materials containing relevant information for the study such as grammar books, previous studies, information on the internet, etc in both languages will be collected, and the main characteristics of subordinators in English and Vietnamese are described and analyzed. Stage 3: After collecting data, techniques of description and analysis are applied to find out the positions, grammatical features and semantic implication of subordinators in both languages. Stage 4: Basing on the results from the stage 3, comparison and contrastive analysis are applied to find out the similarities and the differences between English and Vietnamese in terms of subordinators. 6. Materials Used In this study, the author uses the following materials: - Monolingual English and Vietnamese books - Bilingual English – Vietnamese books - Information on internet - Dictionaries 7. Design of the Study The study consists of three parts, excluding the references. Part A, introduction, consists of the rational, the aims and objectives, research questions, the scope, the method and the design of the study. 4 Part B, development, is the main part of the study. This part is divided into 3 chapters: Chapter 1: Literature review, Chapter 2: Subordinators in English and Vietnamese, and Chapter 3: The similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese in terms of subordinators. Part C, the last past, is the conclusion. This part consists of recapitulation, conclusions, implication for teaching and learning English subordinators and suggestions for further studies. 5 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1. Theoretical Background 1.1. What is Meant by “Subordination”? There are two most popular kinds of relationship in the sentences in both English and Vietnamese: subordination and coordination. In other words, most sentences are formed by subordination and coordination of components. Subordinations are definited by some grammarians. According to Quirk, Greenbaum (1973), subordination is a nonsymmetrical relation, holding between two clauses in such a way that one is constituent or part of the other. In linguistics, subordination is a principle of the hierarchical organization of linguistics units. While the princ iple is applicable in semantics, syntax, morphology, most works in linguistics employs the term “subordination” in the context of syntax, and that is the context in which it is considered here. The syntactic units of sentences are often either subordinate or coordinate to each other. Biber, Conrad and Leech (1999) pointed out some signals of subordination. According to writers, subordination can be signaled by an overt link, in the form of a subordinator or Wh-word, and a non-finite verb phrase, that is, by a verb phrase introduced by an infinitive, present participle or past participle. Finite clauses are marked for tense or modality. Finite dependent clauses usually have an overt link, stating with a subordinator or Wh-word. Look at this example: (1) You can drink your orange [if you like] In the example (1), we use if - one of subordinator to connect two clauses, so the readers or listeners can base on subordinator to recognize subordination. 6 According to Toán, B.M and Lương, N.T (2007), subordination is commonly expressed the relationship between subordinate clause and main clause in a sentence. It has following characteristics: First, it marks an unequal relationship between two clauses in subordinating compound sentences, drives one clause become main clause, and the other is subordinate clause. For example: (2) Hôm nay tôi nghỉ học (Today I don’t go to school Main clause vì trời mưa. because it rains) subordinate clause Second, in semantical relationship, two events in two clauses are connected in a control relationship each other, such as this event happened because of another event, etc. It can be seen in example (2). The final signal characteristic is that all the subordinated components can change their order in a sentence. For instance, we can say Hôm nay tôi nghỉ học vì trời mưa (Today I don’t go to school because it rains) or Vì hôm nay trời mưa nên tôi nghỉ học (Because it rains, I don’t go to school). 1.2. What is Meant by “Subordinator”? According to Quirk and Greenbaum (1973), subordinators are perhaps the most important formal indicators of subordination. Like preposition, which they resemble in having a relating or connecting function, subordinators form the core of the class consist of single word, and again, as with prepositions, there are numerous compound items which act, to various degrees, like a single conjunction (Quirk and Greenbaum 1973: 313). The writers also state that there are three types of subordinators (subordinating conjunction): simple subordinators, compound subordinators and correlative subordinators. Biber, Conrad and Leech (1999) show that subordinators differ in important ways from other clause links. Subordinators are like coordinators, but 7 they are different from linking adverbial, because subordinators occur in a fixed position at the front of their clause. Oshima and Hogue (1998) claim that subordinators are words and phrases that signal subordinate clause, introduce dependent subordinate clauses and signal the relationship between the subordinate clause and the main clause. Another source shows that subordinators are applied to a grammatical distinct, close class of words whose primary role is to mark a clause as subordinate. In Vietnam, subordinators are considered as particles of empty words and sentences that show the subordinated relationship. Like English, they are means of connecting main element and subordinate element. Therefore, subordinators are likely to connect with subordinate clause elements according to Ban and Thung (2001). For instance: (4) Diệp bị đau đầu vì cô ấy suy nghĩ quá nhiều. (Diep got headache because she thought too much). In example (4), because joins two clauses Diệp bị đau đầu and cô ấy suy nghĩ quá nhiều. The two clauses have subordinated relationship in which Diệp bị đau đầu is the main clause and cô ấy suy nghĩ quá nhiều is subordinate clause. Sharing the same idea, Toán and Lương (2007) state that subordinators are empty words and they do not denote things but show the grammatical relationship between two clauses (main clause and subordinate clause). They are considered as very important means in connecting two clauses in sentences. Look at the example below: Bởi tôi ăn uống điều độ và có chừng mực nên tôi chóng lớn lắm. (Tô Hoài, ‘Dế mèn phiêu lưu kí’) (Because I eat in a diet regularly and moderately, I grow very well). 8 1.3. Subordinators in the Relationship with Other Connectors 1.3.1. Subordinators Versus Coordinators Both subordinators and coordinators have the function of connecting units in sentences. However, there are many differences between them. The first difference between subordinators and coordinators is that while subordinators link unit(s) that is constituent(s) of larger one, units connected with coordinators stand on equal footing with each other. E.g. (1) Whenever we go to the park, I’m always get bitten by mosquitoes. (2) He was tired, so he went to bed. As we can see, in the example (1), the dependent clause we go to the park subordinates to the main clause by subordinator whenever. It can’t stand independently as a simple sentence but subordinates to the rest clause. On the contrary, in the example (2), the two clauses are independent. Each of them can stand separately and act as a simple sentence. The second difference need mentioning is that when clauses are connected with coordinators such as and, but, or, subject ellipsis is allowed, subordinators do not allow subject ellipsis. For example, we can’t say I didn’t buy it although like it, but we have to say I didn’t buy it although I like it. In addition, while coordinators can introduce clauses, words, and phrases, most of subordinators introduce clauses. Though the act area of subordinators is smaller than coordinators, in semantic term, subordinators are so variety. Let’s look at these examples: E.g. (3) Although she is fat, she eats candies so much. (Concession) (4) We hurried to school so that we wouldn’t be late. (Purpose) (5) Since he missed the first bus, he came ten minute late. (Reason) 9 The above sentences illustrate some roles of subordinators in sentences in term of semantic. Besides, most of clauses which can change their position are introduced by subordinators, so they can precede or follow the main clause in complex sentences. Thus, we can say There are no polluting exhaust gases because it is electric or Because it is electric, there are no polluting exhaust gases. On the other hand, the clauses are introduced by subordinators have restricted position; namely, it always follows the rest clause(s) in compound sentences. Therefore, we can’t change the sentence He didn’t want to be seen, so he carefully sauntered off in the opposite direction into So he carefully sauntered off in the opposite direction, he didn’t want to be seen. Furthermore, subordinators can be put after coordinator and, but, or and for, e.g. I don’t go out at night but only if I can use the car. In the following sentence, two subordinated clauses are joined together with and which precedes the second subordinator because: He asked to be transferred because he was unhappy and because he saw no prospect. The final difference between subordinators and coordinators is that coordinators usually form looser connections than subordinators do. E.g. Mary was late for work and she received a cut in pay. (Very loose) Mary was late for work; she received a cut in pay. (Loose) Because Mary was late for work, she received a cut in pay. (The subordinator because creates a tighter link between the ideas). 1.3.2. Subordinators Versus Conjunctive Adverbs Subordinators and conjunctive adverbs are two kinds of conjunction among units in sentences and they are often employed in academic writing. However, they are different from each other in many points. Students usually meet 10 difficulties in distinguishing them. To make it become clearer, the author would like to give out some main differences between them. Firstly, subordinators can show that one idea is more important than another. The idea in the main clause is more important, and the idea in the subordinate clause is less important while conjunctive adverbs such as however, moreover, nevertheless, consequently, as a result,…etc are used to join two independent clauses. A conjunctive adverb is a word (phrase) that shows how such sentences, sections of a paragraph, or entire paragraphs are related. They add a lot of emphasis. E.g. (1) Although Diana’s life should have been a happy life, it was not to be. (2) Natalie loved strawberries; however, they gave her a rash. It can be seen in the first sentence, subordinator although shows that Diana’s life should have been a happy life is less important, and the idea It was not to be is more important. On the other hand, in the second example, however links two independent clauses Natalie loves strawberries and they gave her a rash to emphasize that They gave her a rash is contrary to Natalie’s favorite. Secondly, subordinators are usually a single word, but there are also a number of multi–word subordinators that function like single subordinating conjunctions. Subordinators make the clause depend on the rest of the sentence in order to make sense. A comma at the end of an adverbial phrase when it precedes the main clause is needed. E.g. Although she doesn’t like him, she still go out with him. Usually, no comma is needed before a subordinating conjunction if the dependent clause follows the independent clause. E.g. Mary never likes chocolate although it smelled delicious. To conjunctive adverbs, a semicolon and a comma are used when a conjunctive adverb separates two clauses, and the conjunctive adverb is set off 11 by a comma when it begins a sentence. E.g. Mary loves Michael; however, Michael loves Diana. A contrary is to make two sentences: Mary loves Michael. Michael loves Diana, however. When conjunctive adverbs are within an independent clause, they are set off by commas. E.g. Natalie ate strawberries, however, without a second thought. Conjunctive adverbs can be often moved around in the sentence without loosing of meaning. This can not be done with ‘true’ conjunctions like the coordinating conjunctions. E.g. Helena’s car is making strange noises; therefore, she will take it to be serviced. When a conjunctive adverb is used as an introductory word (at the beginning of a sentence), it needs a comma after it: Naturally, Kyle has a cosmopolitan view on many topics. Finally, the subordinator is different from the conjunctive adverb in connecting clause. While subordinators are used to make a subordinate relationship between two clauses, conjunctive adverbs connect two independent clauses. E.g. Many community colleges do not have dormitories; however, they provide housing referral services. (Oshima and Hogue 1998: 158) Although women in the United States could own property, they could not vote until 1920. 2. Review of Previous Works Subordinators play an important role in forming sentences. In fact, in both English and Vietnamese there have been several authors who pay attention to 12 subordinators such as Quirk and Greenbaum (1973), Biber, Conrad and Leech (1999), Oshima and Hogue (1998), Ban, Thung (2001), etc. Quirk and Sydney Greenbaum (1973) partly present subordination formal indicators of subordination, subordinators. Subordinators, according to the authors, can be divided into three types: simple subordinators, compound subordinators and correlative subordinators. Oshima and Hogue (1998) consider subordinator is one of three tools to connect clauses. They also list out the popular subordinators that are usually used in connecting clauses. Biber, Conrad and Leech (1999) partly discuss about subordination and subordinators. The authors also compare between subordinators and coordinators. Furthermore, they give out some signals of subordination, and positions of subordinators in sentences. Cobuild (2003) gives a definition of subordinators, and compares between coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions. The writer shows specific subordinators in term of semantic and syntactic. Murphy (2001) partly presents about conjunction and preposition, and the author considers subordinator is one of means to connect clauses in a sentences. He gives out some kinds of compound sentences that use subordinators to link two clauses. Ban and Thung (2001) claim that subordinators are often presented in sentences which have subordinate relationship. According to the authors, subordinators contain two groups: restrictive subordinators and dependent subordinators based on their effect area. Additionally, the writers affirm that depending on different situations, contexts or the intension of the speakers or writers, different subordinators are applied and the order of clauses in sentences is set up. 13 Toán and Lương (2007) state that subordinator is a means to signal subordinate clause in a sentence. The writers also discuss about the usage of some kinds of sentences that use subordinators. In short, although subordinators have been primarily presented in many works, they are only considered as connectors used to links clauses that have the same grammatical function in the sentences. Up to now, there have not been any works giving a comparison between English and Vietnamese in terms of subordinators. 3. Summary There are many subordinators in English; however, in Vietnamese, the number seems to be much more than that. There are many things in common between the two languages, but they are also different from each other in some points. The next chapter will help us to understand more about the grammatical features, positions as well as semantic characteristics of subordinators in the two languages, the similarities and difference between the two languages in terms of subordinators. 14 CHAPTER 2: SUBORDINATORS IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE 1. Subordinators in English In English, subordinators are very useful means of forming sentences. With the role of clause connectors, subordinators always stand at the beginning of subordinate clause. Of a sentence is begun with subordinators, a comma after the subordinating clause is needed. However, if the subordinator comes in the middle of a sentence, there is no need to put a comma before it. It’s when the clauses they join are relatively subordinate another clause. Because there are many subordinators in English, we just focus on some kinds of subordinators in English. The following will give more details about each kind of subordinators in English. In my own of thinking, the classification of Quirk and Greenbaum (1973) is very easy to follow, so the authors base on their classification to give more detail information about subordinators. 1.1. Simple Subordinators 1.1.1. Subordinators of Time clause Time clause is dependent clauses used to indicate when something happened. The most common subordinators that introduce time clause are: after, as, before, until, when, while. Each subordinator has its own function, but in general, all of those subordinators imply time. First, when is one of the most popular which is used subordinator of time in English. It is used as a means to connect clause of time to refer time with dependent clause. In other words, when shows that one event happens slightly after another. For example: E.g. The workers ended strike when management agreed to give them a pay raise. It is easy to see that the clause When management agreed to give them a pay raise mentions about the time that The workers ended strike. In a different